Too Good to Be True
by LiveLoveLyra
Summary: With three perfect siblings, Kim is the neglected, ignored child of her mother. But when one lucky glance sends long-time unrequited crush Jared her way, Kim suddenly finds herself seeing, for the first time, the other side of perfection. Kim/Jared
1. Prologue

**A/N: I usually don't write for this fandom, but I like the pairing of Jared and Kim, so I decided to give it a shot. Here's the prologue, and tell me what you think on the way out!**

Liana Connweller was one of the poorest people in La Push. Her husband, a good-for-nothing drunk, had left when she was pregnant with twins. Liana was beautiful, ambitious, and smart; everyone had thought she was going somewhere, that she would leave the reservation and go to bigger, better things. No one had anticipated her getting pregnant at sixteen by the town drunk's son. The Connweller children, however, where so undeniably perfect that, drunk father and single mother or no, it was clear to everyone who met them that they were destined for bigger and better things.

Laura Connweller was beautiful. No one disputed this, and she was forever reminded of this by parents, teachers, relatives, and adults in general. Not that she minded in the least. Boys always adored Laura, and Laura adored them; she could never choose one over another, but no one cared in the least; it was Laura Connweller, after all, and she could have gotten away with murder on the reservation. She could go far with a face like that, people reasoned; her mother thought that a modeling career was ahead of Laura, should she go to Los Angeles or New York.

Alex Connweller was Laura's younger brother. His looks, though almost as good as Laura's, were not complimented half so often. It was his athletic prowess that led to _his _fame on the reservation; it seemed the boy was running before he could walk, and whenever Alex Connweller tried a sport, he was instantly good at it. His mother believed that Alex was destined for the under 18 national soccer team, and at fifteen, it seemed that's where he would go.

Rory Connweller was in between Laura and Alex; three years younger than Laura and four minutes older than her twin, Alex. She was a genius; though Liana had refused to allow her to skip grades, Rory took enough classes to graduate by her sophomore year. Everyone knew that she too was going places.

Everyone knew the three golden Connweller siblings; on a reservation so small, it was impossible not to. This led people to be _very _surprised when they found out that there was _another _Connweller sibling.

Kimberly Connweller was not beautiful. She was not athletic. She was not brilliant. She was _average. _

It killed Liana to have such an ordinary, plain child, so she did her best to forget about Kim whenever she could; it was all too easy for Kim to be overlooked in a family where nothing short of perfection was acceptable.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Review if you'd like.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Boys are Back

**A/N: Okay, so here's chapter one! And Jared's in it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

"Kim, my basketball game starts in half an hour, and it takes thirty-five minutes to _get _there! You _know _Coach _hates _it when I'm late!" Alex bounced on his feet by the door, basketball and bag in hand. He glanced from the door to the clock on the wall to the light on Laura's cell phone, abandoned on the table by the door, and back again so quickly that he appeared to have a twitch.

"Has anyone seen my slide-making kit? You know, for my microscope?" Rory asked, pushing her coke-bottle glasses up her nose and rooting around in a cabinet.

"Go dork out somewhere else, Rory," Laura snapped, applying and reapplying her cherry-red lipstick, and smacking her lips loudly. "Some of us actually have a life—well, mostly just me, but the point is that _you're a dork._"

"You know, lipstick contains methylparabe, a preservative that's linked to cancer and can disrupt your endocrine system?" Rory snapped at Laura, her dark, curly hair bouncing in its ponytail as she reinvigorated her search in the cabinet. Laura rolled her eyes and applied another coat of lipstick in rebellion.

"I'm coming, Alex! Do you have your water bottle?" Kim made an appearance, bounding down the stairs two at a time and tugging a purple sweatshirt that said _U-Dub _over her head.

"_Yes, _now let's _go!" _Alex hissed angrily, dragging Kim out the door by her purple sweatshirt-clad arm.

"Wait, I'm coming! Forks boys are so, like, _good_! You know, compared to boring old La Push boys or whatever." Laura followed Kim and Alex out the door, her long, runway length tan legs wobbling in her attempts to balance in her ridiculously high heels. Kim personally thought Laura's outfit was just impractical. Heels and a skirt? It was a _basketball g__ame_, for crying out loud! There were bleachers (and those things were just an issue in _flats, _let alone _heels)._

Kim opened the door to her old, beat-up, piece-of-crap-barely-street-legal-can't-go-above-forty-miles-an-hour Toyota Camry (named Cami by Laura, since technically she co-owned it), hopping in, with Alex in the back and Laura in the passenger's seat. Liana had bought the car because, well, Liana worked so often and so late, getting Alex and Rory wherever they needed to go was a hassle for her. Of course, Laura refused to drive them anywhere; she hadn't thought of getting to use the car whenever she wanted. And besides, Laura couldn't drive very well—she could _drive_, she was just a recklessly terrible driver; she sped, making poor Cami go at least 80 (a miracle no one besides Laura had ever achieved, and Kim marveled at); randomly braked for no actual reason; swerved to avoid butterflies… they didn't risk her behind the wheel often, if ever.

Alex started babbling about how Coach would _kill _him if he was late, which Kim doubted—after all, Alex was the star player of the team, and had led the Forks-La Push joint team (it was comprised mostly of just Forks boys) to state finals as an _eighth grader. _If Coach Reiner _wanted _to damn the best seasons the Forks-La Push varsity boys basketball team had ever seen in history by murdering the best player on the team, then he was crazy.

Laura started talking incessantly to her on-again, off-again boyfriend from Forks—Tyler something—on her crappy Nokia phone. Kim reached over and hung it up when Laura began to phone-sex her boyfriend.

Luckily, they reached the game in the Forks High gymnasium in time, with time even for Alex to warm up before the game started. Laura found Tyler and retreated with him under the bleachers. Kim parked the car and roved the crowd, looking for her best (and only friend), Natalie "Nosebleed" Wright. Natalie was slightly socially awkward, not to mention her chronic nosebleeds that'd earned her the dreaded nickname "Nosebleed", but she was pretty in a backhanded sort of way with her thick Quileute black hair and her soft, happy smile. Prettier than Kim, anyway. But in Kim's opinion, it did not take much to be prettier than her. After all, Kim's hair was thin and wispy, and straight as a ruler. Her face was broad, her cheeks large with her eyes and nose too small to make up for it. Her smile was nice; she shared it with her more attractive siblings and her mother, after all.

Natalie was standing in the crummy, run-down bleachers, waving her hand at Kim, signaling her to come over. She was jumping up and down in excitement, and the bleachers were groaning in protest. Kim gestured for Natalie to calm down before the bleachers became more of a safety hazard than they already were.

"Kim! Kim! Kim! You won't _believe _who's back from the dead!" Natalie whisper-squealed once Kim reached her.

"I'm sure I won't." Kim sighed, watching her brother warm up and sitting down on the bleacher. Natalie joined her, squealing for real this time. A few people turned around to stare at her.

"_Jared Cameron!" _Natalie hissed, a goofy smile on her face. Kim didn't look up at Natalie to see if she was serious, though she really wanted to; instead, she straightened up slightly.

"What would I care about _that?" _Kim said, a bit too quickly. Though she couldn't see her, Kim could practically _hear _Natalie's exasperated eye-roll.

"Yeah, and Brad Pitt just announced his undying love for me on national television," Natalie snorted.

"Your nose," Kim told her without looking away from the game, sensing that Natalie's sensitive nose couldn't take any slight pressure.

"Danks," Natalie placed a fresh tissue over her nose. They sat like that, neither saying anything, and Kim could practically feel Natalie's need to gush about Kim's love for Jared Cameron. Just like, Kim was sure, Natalie could practically feel her need to know the reason Jared had missed three weeks of school. Kim tapped her foot on the ground anxiously, imagining things like intense cosmetic surgery or extreme weight loss from mono being the reason for Jared's mysterious disappearance.

When Kim had been in first grade, bespectacled and friendless, bookish and lonely, some kid—looking back, it was probably resident bad boy and womanizer, Paul Lahote—had knocked down her books onto the floor. Jared, sweet, kind Jared, had smiled his beautiful smile at her, picked up her books, and stolen her heart. Rory, who Kim was perhaps closest to of all her siblings, insisted that, seeing as Kim had never spoken more than two words to Jared in her entire existence, Kim was idealizing and romanticizing the actual Jared Cameron with a perfect man; Jared was simply a face she'd placed with the usually anonymous Prince Charming. Still, it did not keep her from doodling _Mrs. Kimberly Connweller Cameron, Jared + Kim = True Love, Kim Cameron, Kim 3 Jared, Kim + Jared 4ever, _etc. on her notebooks, or from dreaming that perhaps he had _I 3 Kim _written in his perfect handwriting on his Algebra notebook.

Both of them finally could contain their excitement, and turned to each other so fast that Natalie's nose started to bleed again. "What's going on with Jared? Is he okay? Where's he been?"

"Okay, I'll dell you! Doend _beg," _Natalie said through her compressed nose. She removed the tissue to explain. "Jared and Paul—you know, that ass who sleeps with your sister sometimes?—mysteriously disappear—"

"Natalie, I _know _that! I thought you were gonna say something _interesting," _Kim said, not even bothering to hide her disappointment. Natalie rolled her eyes.

"That's just it! They're both back, and they're, like, on _steroids _or something! They're huge! They're both _at least _six' five" and all muscly and stuff and _so. Freaking. Hot." _Natalie said, replacing her tissue to her still-bleeding nose.

"_No,_" Kim scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "No one grows six inches in _three weeks, _Natalie. It's physically impossible. Ask Rory, if you need further persuasion."

"I'm telling you, Kim, they're hot. They cut their hair, and got these hot-ass tattoos…and they're _really _H-O-T _hot. _And tall. And muscly…and totally fuckable!" Natalie gushed again. Kim glanced at her in surprise; Natalie wasn't prone to girly freak outs over guys. Then again, Natalie was so unpredictable and erratic in her moods and behavior that Kim was rarely surprised at any of her friend's antics anymore.

Natalie shrugged in a nonchalant, '_Well, if you saw them, you'd agree' _sort of way, and Kim rolled her eyes; Jared had always been, in her mind, completely fuckable.

"Natalie, again: _Not possi—_" But Kim was cut off as Natalie shrieked and pointed to the edge of the gym.

"Kim Kim Kim Kim, _oh my god, Kim! _Are you watching this? Tell me you're watching this!" Kim followed Natalie's strange gestures and line of vision and saw three tall, muscular, hulking Quileute boys; really, Kim could only tell they were Quileute because of their black hair and russet skin. Kim's mouth dropped open, and wondered _how the hell _had Jared Cameron suddenly gone from high-school-crush-worthy hot to let's-stalk-that-super-hot-shirtless-celebrity hot. The others were Paul Lahote, who looked like he wanted to kill someone, and Sam Uley, the reservation drug dealer, according to local gossip. His arm was slung over the skinny, sloped shoulders of a woman with a hood, scarf, and sunglasses partially covering her face.

_Must be the girl he left Leah for, _Kim mused, instantly hating the girl. Kim had always felt a bit of loyalty to Leah Clearwater, who'd always been more of an older sister to Kim than Kim's actual big sister; besides, Alex's best friend was Leah's younger brother, Seth, who was the only other La Push boy on the team. Kim had met Emily, Sam's new girlfriend, a few times over the years, simply because she and Leah had been close. Now? Well, you don't steal your best friend's (let alone your _cousin's) _boyfriend-almost-fiance. You just _don't _do that. It violated so _many _girl codes. Kim hadn't actually seen Emily since her accident, which occurred not long before she and Sam went public with their relationship (the 'went public' part was added because most people thought that Sam had two-timed Leah with Emily while they were still together). Emily had become something of a pariah after the Leah-Sam incident, so she rarely left her house. That, and the rumor that Emily's face had been torn apart by a bear in her accident and she was ashamed of it.

That alone made it hard to hate Emily Young. Kim found it hard to hate anyone, really. Besides Sloan Hammond, Jared's girlfriend and Laura's main rival for Queen Bee/Alpha Bitch of La Push's small high school, whom Kim could easily hate.

Kim noticed Seth Clearwater pointedly turn away from Emily and Sam; it must have been done out of loyalty to Leah, because Seth himself couldn't hold a grudge to save his life. He was currently benched with a sprained ankle, and Emily or Sam could have easily stopped to talk to him if he hadn't been stand-offish. She briefly noticed him cheer for Alex from the bench as Alex shot a basket. As the ball swished through the net, Alex made a motion at Seth; something that clearly meant _I'm all that. _Seth laughed good-naturedly, waving his friend off. Kim remembered how Rory had always hated the boys' secret language.

Kim returned her attention to Jared, who said something out of the corner of his mouth to Paul, who smirked viciously in contained laughter. Jared was a god. He was. Kim was officially certain.

If she hadn't already been in love with him, then she sure as hell was now.

"Yeah, what could you _ever _want with him, Kim?" Natalie rolled her eyes and smirked slightly, ignoring the onslaught of another nosebleed. "Sometimes, I really think this stalker-obsession thingamajig isn't healthy! You'll get a chapped chin from all that drooling you do. You know, people must think we're disgusting! I mean, _really! _Blood never stops pouring out of my stupid nose and whenever you get a whiff of that sweet Jared-smell you start to drool everywhere. You know, sometimes I think that the spirit guides or God or whoever actually plannedfor us to be best friends; like, we were designed for it or some other crap like that. But really, going back to Jared, it's really unhealthy! I mean, you just ogle him all day but, woman, you need to make your move or just forget him! It's controlling your life! Like, right now, I might as well start talking to the _wall _for all the response I'm getting!" Natalie, exasperated, gesticulated wildly for added effect. She glanced at Kim, whose mouth was indeed wide open in shock and awe at the new and improved Jared Cameron. She shook her head, looking up at the sky, where it was beginning to rain as if to say, _Do you see what I have to deal with, here?_

"Your brother just scored a goal/touchdown/_basket_. I think this is his second…nope, third." Natalie remarked, returning her attention to the game, where Alex Connweller had indeed scored three baskets and six points.

"Huh?" Kim said, shaking her head as if coming out of a fog; Jared had sat down, and Kim was studying the contours of his extremely muscular back three rows ahead of them.

"My point, exactly." Natalie agreed to herself, shaking her head.

**A/N: That fateful History class will be next chapter**


	3. Chapter 2: Kim& Jared Freaking Cameron

**A/N: Chapter three, everybody! Review, please!**

"You know, now that I think on it, you're actually kind of…_pathetic._" Natalie told Kim truthfully as the latter drove her and Rory to school. Laura and Alex had both managed to get rides from their friends.

"Thanks, Nat. It's nice to know my best friend is so…_supporting _of me and my endeavors," Kim snorted, making a sharp enough turn to send Natalie reeling into the dashboard. It also dislodge Rory, who had her Calculus extra homework spread across the backseat. She promptly began moaning about how the vectors or something had been lining up to the vertices of something, and now she had to start all over. Kim and Natalie both ignored her.

"Oh, _Kimmy," _Natalie said, imitating Laura effectively with a high-pitched, bored drawl and sort of superficial-looking expression, if expressions could be superficial. "You _totally _have a chance with Jared Cameron, who is now a steroid-taking, weight-pumping, muscly mass of pure hotness, because after eight years of pining and stalking—"

"Ten," Rory corrected eagerly. Kim glared at Rory in the mirror, but blushed slightly.

"—I mean, _ten _years of obsessive pining and stalking and staring and following and creeping—"

"I never _creeped!'_

_ "_There was that time when we followed him and his friends all the way to Port Angeles—"

"_Your _idea, Natalie!"

"—though nothing's come of this stalking, one-sided relationship," Natalie continued without a break in her Laura-impersonation rant. "You never, _ever, _gave up for one second that there might be the slimmest chance that he'd like you back, even though you've never spoken two intelligible words to him. In your life. You totally have a chance; we _totally_ should do, like, voodoo with one of his old tissues."

"You're gross." Kim said, pulling into the school parking lot.

"Am I, though? Or am I right, like I very nearly always am?" Kim rolled her eyes at this. "Listen, Kim, it's kind of pathetic. Really. You're like…a basset hound. You sort of follow him around like a little puppy, with your eyes all big and hopeful and your tail all wagging, and he's like your irresponsible owner who doesn't want to play with—" Natalie decided, and Kim parked the car, grabbed her bag, and was out before Natalie had finished her sentence.

"_Kim, _I swear! It's freaking _unhealthy_! You should go…fool around with someone, from Forks or somewhere else where it won't get around and just get _over _Jared already." Natalie stumbled out the car, her enormous backpack hindering her exit. Kim rolled her eyes at her.

"Natalie, _just yesterday _you were jumping up and down on the bleachers because he was back—"

"He was hot! I was excited; he excited me! Can you blame me?" Natalie defended herself vehemently.

"Come on, we'll be late," Kim rolled her eyes, blushing slightly and heading towards her History class.

"Maybe you should corner him in a supply closet and, like, bang his—"

"_Goodbye, _Natalie!" Kim sang over her shoulder, walking into History.

"Jusd bein helbful, Kim," Natalie called to her, her nose covered with a handkerchief. Kim smiled, in spite of herself.

Yes, there he was. Jared Cameron. Sitting there, in the seat next to the seat that she sat at, breathing the same air Kim would breathe in only a few short seconds; his mere existence was godly. He seemed surreal in that moment, like he was something too perfect to be sitting in the chair next to the chair she would sit in, his perfect elbows resting on tables older than their parents, his perfect nose breathing in the air that had been recycled through the school's crappy ventilation system. He was too good. He was too good to be real.

In that instant, as Kim paused in the doorway of the smelly History room, taking in the truest form of perfection, she realized something truly important: Natalie was right. She _was _pathetic.

Shaking her head slightly, Kim continued to the seat next to the seat that Jared was sitting in, her stomach twisting in happy knots as it always did whenever she was near Jared. She sat down as quietly as she could, biting back a smile at how happy she was that he was still sitting next to her in History. She blushed, promptly shielding her face from him with a curtain of her black hair.

"Well, Mr. Cameron. Long time, no see." Mrs. McBrian said, looking down at Jared. He looked up at her, flashing her a glimpse of his perfect, white teeth in a beautiful smile. Kim's heart stuttered.

"Mrs. McBrian, I've been sick for a while," he said, grinning cheekily at her.

"I'm not an idiot, Jared. Make sure you borrow the notes you've missed, and for God's sake, _catch up on your homework!" _A few people snickered at her last comment, and Jared blushed. He really _was _beautiful… "Okay, class; get out your copies of _Great Expectations_, and your notes from Mr. Henderson's English class. You will be writing a two-page essay on the lifestyle of the masses in Victorian England." Everyone just sat, staring at her. Mrs. McBrian glared at them all. She clapped her hands twice. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Kim didn't move, but she heard Jared's chair creak as he turned to her. "We're reading a new book?" He asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice. Kim opened her mouth to speak, found that she'd left her voice in the hallway, and ended up simply nodding her head, inwardly cringing in embarrassment. She blushed bright red, again.

He cleared his throat, clearly feeling awkward. "Do you have a…uh, pen?" He asked, rummaging around his books for the elusive writing utensil. Kim nodded, pleased with the extra "Mhhm" she'd added to her nod. She rummaged around in her blue pencil case, finding a green pen with _Clearwater Family Diner, serving families since 1986 _on it and handing it out to him. She happened to look up at him in that half a second when the pen passed from her hand to his, her brown eyes meeting his black. He had been about to grin at her, his usual confident smirk, but it fell from his lips as he met her eyes. His mouth dropped open, his eyes widening as emotions danced across his chiseled, handsome face; confusion, adoration, awe, fear… Kim realized that they'd been staring at each other for far to long, and promptly blushed, using her hair as a curtain to hide herself from him. He let out a little noise of protest, and out of her peripheral vision, she saw that he was opening and closing his mouth, trying to find his voice.

"I—you—wow—you're pretty—no, I mean—not that you aren't pretty, because I think you're beautiful—not to sound creepy or anything, but—are you—will you—what's your—are you new?" Jared asked, his voice shaking slightly, like he had so many things he wished to say but couldn't possibly express them all without a significant time frame.

"No…" Kim was confused; he thought she was _new?_

"W-who are you, again?" Jared asked, stuttering slightly.

"You don't know?" Kim asked, biting her lip when she felt her eyes sting with tears. He _really _hadn't known she _existed? _All this time, she'd thought he just hadn't acknowledged that she was alive, but he really didn't know… talk about awkward.

"No—I'm sorry—really sorry. I'm Jared, Jared Cameron." He said, sticking out his hand in greeting.

"I know," she said, and Kim mentally kicked herself. _He's finally noticed you, dimwit, and now you go all bitchy on him? What the hell is wrong with you? _

_ I don't know, _Kim thought to herself sadly. "I'm sorry," Kim said, looking up at him and slightly surprised that he hadn't looked away from her. "It's just that—well, I've s-s-sat here all year, and I've known you since we were in kindergarten and you've been to my house, and ate dinner with my family a few times." It all came out in a rush; years of quiet longing and years of resenting her invisibility, and the word vomit was pouring out of her. This sucked.

Jared's beautiful face crumpled into a frown; in fact, he looked anguished. "I _have?"_

"Yes," Kim answered, turning back to _Great Expectations, _and the textbook's words on Victorian London_. _Her voice acquired an edge to it as she continued."You used to date my sister."

"I did?" He seemed surprised; like he honestly couldn't remember. Kim felt like she'd been punched in the gut; had he really dated so many girls that he couldn't even _remember?_

"Yeah. I'm Kim," Kim said, blushing slightly. He was happy; it took her a moment to realize it was because she'd told him her name.

"_Kim." _ Jared echoed, his whole face lighting up. "That's beautiful. You're beautiful." He blurted out the last, and Kim snorted quietly.

"That's not true," Kim said, and Jared made to protest, before Mrs. McBrian interrupted them.

"_Kimberly. Jared. _Flirt _outside _my class, next time?" Kim blushed furiously, but Jared grinned widely at her. The class snickered as classes tend to do whenever someone gets picked on by the teacher; usually, they are just glad that it wasn't them getting picked on.

"Sorry, Mrs. McBrian," Jared said, his eyes never leaving Kim. He did not sound sorry at all.

Throughout the rest of the class, Kim attempted to do the work they were supposed to be doing about _Great Expectations; _'attempted' being the operative word. Kim found it _very _hard to concentrate when _Jared freaking Cameron _would not stop staring at her.

"Here are my notes in Henderson's, and my notes from McBrian's," she handed him her notebook, after class was over and the lunch bell had rung, overly conscious that is had been hastily erased of all remnants of any _Kim 3 Jared _notations. He reached for the notebook, his huge hand brushing against her tiny one, making her face flush. He took the notebook as if it were something as sacred as the Ark of the Covenant, handling it delicately. He placed it into his backpack, his dark gaze returning to her face immediately. He smiled at her again, and Kim felt her heart stutter. As if he had heard it, Jared's smile widened. She blushed, and his smile widened.

"Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim, you won't _believe _what Destiny was saying to Maura who heard from that Sabrina girl who heard from Clark who heard from Craig who overheard Lisa telling Stephen! Destiny was saying to Maura who heard from that Sabrina girl who heard from Clark who heard from Craig who overheard Lisa telling Stephen that Jar—Ohmygod, it's _true!" _Natalie burst into the deserted classroom, barely stopping to breathe. She looked from Jared to Kim to Jared to Kim to back again, moving her whole head as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Let it be declared far and wide that Natalie Marie Wright was rendered utterly and comically speechless for the first time in living memory. Natalie's mouth opened and closed a few times. Jared turned back to Kim, pretending that they hadn't been interrupted.

"You, uh, free this Saturday?" Jared asked, suddenly looking nervous, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He clearly did not like having an audience in Kim's blabbermouth best friend.

"Yeah, I…uh, think so," _because I'm free for every Saturday night until the end of time…_Kim thought to herself. "Why?"

"_Why? _Kim, Jared _freaking Cameron _is asking you out! You don't _question_ it, are you stupid?" Natalie chipped in, looking flabbergasted. Jared ignored her, something that Natalie clearly _did not like._

"Because, I—um, well, there's this, uh, party thing in Forks, and if you wanted, um, we could—"

"Carpool?" Kim asked, mentally face palming. Natalie did an actual face palm, causing her nose to bleed.

"Um, well, that's actually not what I meant, but—"

"Kim wants to go! She'll go! She wants a date! Believe me, I'm her social manager!" Natalie had stemmed the blood flow from her nose and had joined back into their conversation, determined to save Kim from social retardation.

"You have no social life! You get chronic _nosebleeds!" _Kim snapped at Natalie.

"Says Miss I've-never-had-a-boyfriend. Oh yes, I went there!" Natalie retorted. Kim rolled her eyes, blushing at her friend's behavior in the presence of Jared.

"So, will you come as my date to the party with me? I _am _Jared Freaking Cameron, after all," by his smirk, Jared had regained his confidence. Natalie had the gall to blush at use of her phrasing, and Kim blushed because—well, he was Jared freaking Cameron, and he was asking her out. And she was currently catatonic, and her tongue was unable to reply.

"S-s-s-sure," she choked out, and for all the effect it had on him, she might as well have announced he'd won a million dollars.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at, uh, seven. No, six, and we could get dinner before—no, the party's at eight, so I'll pick you up at seven forty-five and we'll be late because we won't be the losers who are there early. Yeah, that'll work!" He turned back to her, smiling widely. "Wanna eat lunch with me today, Kim?" He looked so hopeful, Kim wanted to jump into his arms and never let go.

"She can't. As her social manager, I'm afraid I have to step in and prohibit any social events that correspond with any prior social commitments—" Natalie stepped in, adjusting a pair of glasses that had mysteriously appeared on her nose. Kim rolled her eyes. Natalie was _nothing _if not dramatic. Jared looked crestfallen at the rejection Natalie had made for Kim.

"Save the drama, Nat, I don't _have _any plans—" Kim didn't want Jared to be sad. Nope. Not ever.

"What about our weekly taco run and our daily gossip sesh?" Natalie whined, abbreviating the word "session" to "sesh".

"Where would we even _get_ tacos, Natalie?" Kim asked, pleading with Natalie. "You can drive my car…" Kim prompted, and Natalie brightened.

"Return her in one piece, Jared Freaking Cameron, or else there'll be hell to pay!" Natalie sang, skipping out of the classroom.

"Sorry. I didn't know she would—" Kim started, feeling embarrassed for her friend. Jared shook his head, waving her away.

"It's no big deal. She's funny."

"She wasn't really trying to be funny…the glasses, though, were just one of her props," Kim informed him, and Jared nodded, smiling at Kim.

Kim's mouth dropped open. She'd had an actual _sentence _with Jared, without stuttering like some idiot! _Yes! _And he'd asked her _out! _And then to eat lunch with him!

Kim's spirits soared, and her smile appeared to be permanent on her face. Nothing could ruin today.

Nothing.


	4. Chapter 3: Gossip and Glop

**A/N: Disclaimer: SM owns everything.**

Nothing could ruin Kim's spirit of elation, it seemed, except for her sister. Sisters have a spectacular ability to ruin good moods faster than a blink; especially if your sister is popular, beautiful, confident, and just an all-around bitch who enjoys meddling in your nonexistent love life. Like her sister, Laura, was doing _right then, _after Kim's third period English_. _

"What's this I've heard? I just got a text from Sabrina Carlton that you and Jared Cameron were going at it in the _supply closet!" _Laura held up her crappy Nokia phone and jutted out one of her hips to show that she did _not _approve of what this rumor implied. Kim's mouth dropped open.

"People are really saying that?" Kim asked, incredulous.

"I know, right? Supply closets are, like, _such _a90s fad. What is this, _My So-Called Life? _Everybody knows you should use Coach Richtner's office during third period, duh." Laura said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. If Kim hadn't been blown away by the speed at which gossip travelled in a school as small as La Push was, she would have corrected Laura's subpar knowledge of 90s TV shows, and then asked her, pointedly, how on Earth _she _knew what was the 'in' hotspot for skipping class to 'go at it'.

"Gross, Laura. Besides, I thought you didn't talk to me in public?" Kim said, noticing the strange looks people were giving them.

"I don't, and you should never act like we are on more than a _you-give-me-the-popular-senior-your-math-homework-and-I-acknowledge-your-dorky-junior-existence _basis, ever, or else. You aren't very noticeable, Kim, and _you know _I mean that in the _kindest _way possible, and having you actually get picked up on Sabrina Carlton's gossip radar, like, _super_ unusual. So I had to check it out, duh. I would _totally _lead you somewhere private, but then there'd be rumors about me and you in an incestuous lesbo relaylay and your chances with Jare-Bear would be zero to _zilch." _To emphasize the _zilch, _Laura made a motion with her hands to indicate a flatline. She glared at Kim, "and I need your math homework."

Kim sighed; it was always good to keep the peace with Laura, just because Laura _always _got her way. Pulling her blue math notebook covered with doodles of _Mrs. Kim Cameron _out of her bag_, _Laura continued her interrogation. "So…did you?"

"Did we… what?"

"Go at it in the supply closet?" Laura looked at Kim like _she _was the one who sounded crazy.

"_What? _No! Jeez, Laura, what kinda girl do you think I _am?" _Kim asked, her mouth falling open again. Laura shrugged, taking the math notebook with her manicured nails.

"I don't really care enough to stick around to find out. Just, stay away from Jared, 'kay? You're not his type, and I mean that in the _kindest_ way possible. I'd hate to see you get hurt," Laura smiled a sickly sweet "mean girl" smile at Kim.

"Did you bang him?" Kim lowered her voice considerably. Laura snorted.

"_Freshman _year? He was all skinny and lanky and gross; I dumped him for that guy from Forks," Laura said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "It was freshman year, anyway; we were more _friends _than boyfriend-girlfriend. All we did was peck and hold _hands. _What a waste of two weeks. But like I said, you're not his type." Laura made a peace sign and walked away, her high-heels click-clacking on the cheap linoleum floor. Kim stared after her sister, wondering if perhaps one of them was secretly adopted. One thing confused her about Laura's speech, however: if Laura and Jared had never been precisely serious, then _why the hell _had he been invited over for dinner, twice? Wasn't meeting the girlfriend's parents sort of a serious thing? Even if Jared hadn't been into their actual house; they'd eaten at the outside patio, enjoying a brief spell of good weather. And beyond _that, _Kim's mother rarely allowed _anyone _to come to the house; presumably because she was so ashamed of the relative state of destitution it was in, and because the family black sheep/self-proclaimed "free spirit Aunt Renata had lived with them at the time; not to mention their bat-shit insane Grandmama, who liked to throw pots out the window. It just wasn't a place to make good impression. Kim had known Natalie for nearly two years before she was allowed over; Seth Clearwater, her brother's absolute best friend, had been hesitantly invited over after Alex nonchalantly mentioned that Seth had never been over, and it was being to make them seem rude. Which made it doubly strange that Jared had been invited over after only two weeks of "Junior High dating" with Laura.

These thoughts had only just been plaguing her for a few moments when an annoyingly familiar voice sounded in her ear, making her jump.

"Did she really just use 'incestuous' and 'relaylay' in the _same sentence_?" Natalie asked, popping up next to Kim as they made their daily course to the school's cafeteria/gymnasium/auditorium/study hall.

"Uh…I think," Kim said, staring after his sister. It really was a marvel they were related. Natalie shook her head, and turned to Kim.

"Come on, you've scored a lunch seat with Jared _freaking _Cameron, and _you_ don't want him to forget that he asked you. Oh, my god, maybe he'll ask for your _number! _Or maybe he'll ask you to Erica Stanton's party! Oh, wait, he already did, didn't he! Oh my _god!_ Maybe he'll ask you to marry him!"

"Natalie, personally, I think the chances of him asking me to marry him are pretty slim," Kim told Natalie frankly. "Salad, please," Kim told the sour-faced lunch lady, receiving a glare and an old salad Kim had absolutely no intention of eating.

"Just like the chances of him asking you to eat with him?" Natalie smirked at Kim. "Same," Natalie told the lunch lady. The lunch lady grumbled, taking a scoop of grayish-purple mush and dropping it onto Natalie's tray with a disgusting glopping noise. Natalie wrinkled her nose and followed Kim away from the lunch lady. It was Kim's turn to smirk at the disgusted look on Natalie's face.

"That's what you get for getting old Sour Face fired," Kim said, causing Natalie to glare.

"That was _Junior High, _Kim, and you _promised _you'd never bring that up again!" Kim's smirk deepened at Natalie's slight blush.

"Kim!" They both turned around to see Jared calling from a table on the far side of the cafeteria, surrounded by a tray piled up with food that wasn't the gruel Natalie had been served. Paul Lahote—Kim guessed that the weird friendship between Paul and Jared must have happened in the two weeks they had been absent—sat next to him, chowing down on at least five different lunches. _How odd, _Kim thought; usually, Paul sat with a group of loud, slutty girls, where he was fawned over constantly, and Jared usually sat with the popular kids; he _usually _sat with his current girlfriend, Sloan Hammond. Paul's girls and Jared's friends were all eying the strange alliance of Sam Uley's new he-men with confusion, dislike, scorn, and even jealousy. Only Kim's sister Laura didn't care, because she'd already "dated" Paul (except this was Laura's version of dating, which involved no dates, no talking, and just sex) and had always been sort of on a friendly basis with Jared. Probably since _they'd freaking dated in freshman year! _

"He remembered your name!" Natalie hissed to Kim, causing Kim to blush wildly. When Natalie began to detour towards their usual table in the back, Kim made a strangled noise of fear.

"Where are you going?" Kim whispered, hurrying to catch up with Natalie. She cast Jared and Paul's table a few nervous glances. To the passive observer, it would appear that Kim didn't want to eat lunch with Jared; however, Natalie was easily able to tell that Kim wanted to eat with Jared, but was simply being her usual shy, self-conscious self, and was apprehensive at the thought of approaching Jared without her slightly less socially awkward friend.

"Over to sit at our table. _I _wasn't invited, remember?" Natalie smiled slyly, nudging Kim in the direction of Jared's table. "Go on. Go."

Kim cast Natalie a look of hopelessness and trepidation as she walked carefully, but deliberately, towards Jared. Natalie noticed the way his eyes locked on hers, unwilling to look away or to even blink—as if Kim were a hallucination that would disappear suddenly if he did.

"Hi, Kim," Jared said, smiling widely at her. Kim smiled her own shy smile in return, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. Natalie rolled her eyes; Kim needed to grow some balls or something and stake her claim on her man (okay, so Jared wasn't Kim's 'man' yet, but it was technicality easily ratified once Kim grew some serious balls and acted like her normal self, already!)

"Hehfjkimm," Paul greeted through a mouth stuffed full of food. He swallowed audibly, repeating himself. "Hey, Kim." Turning to Jared, he added: "Say something, dipshit. You look so dumb."

"Oh! Um…sit here!" He stood up from his seat so fast he fell onto the ground. Natalie snickered to herself as Rory joined her at their usual table, Jared and Kim's conversation fading out as she put some distance of loud, rowdy high school cafeteria between them. She watched in amusement as Jared's dark skin turned redder than Quileute skin should have been able to go while he scrambled to cover up his moment of awkward idiocy in front of the girl he apparently liked—yeah, Jared liking Kim in _reality? _Natalie was more than a little surprised, too.

"What are you—that isn't _Kimberly _with Jared _Cameron?" _Rory always tried to sound as smart as she was so people would take her seriously; really, it made her sound rather pretentious, like she was rubbing her superior intellect in their faces.

"Yup. Weird, huh?" Natalie murmured, not looking up at Kim's little sister. Rory had always been a bit of a tagalong; too smart for children her age, and still too childish in the eyes of adults for them to bother with taking her seriously, Rory had never really been able to make friends. Kim had always privately confided in Natalie that she suspected that Rory was thoroughly lonely most of the time, simply because people rarely bothered to talk to her. Rory could be rather intimidating, Natalie supposed; she wasn't plain by _any_ standards (Kim called Rory a "diamond in the rough", simply because Rory _was _rather pretty and an engaging and fiercely loyal individual but was so socially awkward, intimidating, and blunt to the point of rudeness that people never really bothered to look past her stony exterior), was smarter than the entire teaching staff and honor roll students put together, and always had a gave off a stuck up impression. In her earlier years, Rory had followed her louder, social, attractive, charismatic twin and his smiley best friend around. Of course, Alex had objected vehemently to this; he and Rory had never gotten along, and Alex was never willing to share Seth with Rory. Seth himself had always been friendly, but he had never really noticed when Rory had stopped following him and Alex around and started following Kim and Natalie around.

"Just a bit," Rory answered, staring at Jared and Kim at their table as Jared vehemently attempted conversation with Kim; unfortunately for both Jared and Kim, Kim had gone into "turtle mode": essentially, Kim (the turtle) sensed that she was leaving her comfort zone and speedily tucked her head back into her metaphoric "shell" and became basically unresponsive beyond feverish blushing and stuttering.

"He asked her out in History today," Natalie remarked as Rory settled some extra work out on the table for her to do "for fun" (_honestly,_ Natalie thought, _what's _fun _about quadratics?). _Rory looked up through her coke-bottle glasses in surprise.

"Really?" Rory asked, looking extremely surprised at that bit of knowledge.

"Your faith in Kim is astounding, Rory,"Natalie said sarcastically, pushing at the mush on her tray with her plastic spork.

"Don't pretend _you_ aren't surprised, Natalie. A sudden interest in Kimberly from the practically lifelong object of my hapless sister's affection is very improbable. Unfortunately for Kimberly, the likelihood of Jared Cameron being legitimately interested in her are tragically slim. I predict a practical joke to be the cause. Perhaps he has placed money on winning her affections with his odious companion. He certainly picks poor company in Paul Lahote." Rory stated matter-of-factly, as if Kim's impending heartbreak was as trivial as the weather.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "English, por favor?"

"I. Think. It's. Unlikely. That. Jared. Just. Suddenly. Likes. Kim. So. It's. Probably. A. Joke. Or. A. Bet. With. That. Slimeball. Paul. Lahote." Rory said, annunciating each word painstakingly slowly for Natalie's benefit, as if Natalie was two, or at least significantly stupid.

"Jesus, Rory, calm down, okay? Oh, and, by the way, Seth Clearwater is staring at you from your stupid-ass brother's table. In case you were wondering." Natalie snapped at Rory; Rory whirled around at Natalie's last statement, towards the obnoxiously loud table of the popular freshmen where Seth (the object of Rory's own hopeless fantasies) sat dutifully with her brother. He wasn't looking at her; she should have known. He _never_ looked at her. She was the sister of his best friend; the freak genius; the fly on the wall. He was Seth Clearwater. There was never a chance for them, but at least she wasn't moping over Seth like Kim was over Jared; Rory _knew _that there wasn't any chance between them, and that there never would be no matter how long she pined over him.

Rory had always hated how people went on and on about her "gift", and how lucky she was that she was so smart. But really, to her, it was more of a curse; she would have given anything to be normal. It didn't really seem worth it, to be so smart that you alienated your family, you intimidated your peers, outsmarted your teachers, and freaked out any boys who may have been interested in you. Rory felt like she had always been an adult; certainly, the expectations placed on her exceeded those placed on any adults she had encountered; and yet, she was treated as a precocious child. She would have given anything to be average. Maybe achieving A's, but certainly not exceptionally smart as she was. Maybe Seth would notice her the way she wanted him to if she weren't so smart. Maybe he'd look at her like she was a girl and he was a boy instead of she was the weird sister and he was the best friend.

"You're terrible," Rory whispered to Natalie, blushing slightly. Natalie looked a bit ashamed, mercifully changing the subject back to Kim.

"Kim's actually made it to _words _now…definite progress…" Natalie said. Indeed, Kim was talking with animated vigor, gesticulating wildly. Clearly, Jared had hit upon a topic she was semi-passionate about. Jared himself seemed pleased at this new development, as he watched her with an air of someone lost in the Sahara chancing upon an oasis.

"He certainly is a good actor." Rory admitted, observing them like she would an amoeba under a microscope.

"Agreed," Natalie said, watching as Jared's eyes lit up when Kim smiled. It must have been faked; though Jared could no doubt win an _Oscar _for his acting—Natalie could quite literally _see _the devotion in his eyes.

"I kind of feel like we're feeding her to the wolves," Rory said, looking slightly uneasy.

"It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all," Natalie told her, and Rory's worries looked slightly mollified.

"I hope you're right."

"I hope so, too."

**A/N: Review! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!**


	5. Chapter 4: Brothers and Best Friends

**A/N: Thanks for the great reviews! **

** Wow, I'm writing fast! Okay, um, here's Chapter 4. I was planning on formally introducing Liana (Kim's Mom) in this chapter but she ended up being just a phone call.**

There is a very thin line in decision-making when one must cross over from logic into intuition, from knowledge to feeling, from thoughts to instinct. Perhaps, Natalie concluded, that was why Rory—hands down the smartest person she knew—thought that she _knew _that Jared was faking his newfound affection for Kim; Rory was a logical, rational, reasonable, and unimaginative person to a fault. It was _logical _that Jared _freaking _Cameron be interested only in playing the shy girl who liked him for money; it was rational to believe that Kim would come out of this heartbroken; it was reasonable to suspect Jared of ulterior motives, to disbelieve the truth of his affections; it was unimaginative to _not _hope that, against all logic, Jared had _somehow _noticed Kim _freaking Connweller _and was currently as enamored with her as she was with him. Natalie wasn't so narrow-minded as Rory appeared to be—she wouldn't deny the devoted awe she had seen in his eyes as he looked at Kim; she had seen it, after all. Sure, it made no sense whatsoever, and the whole school was abuzz with it, but really, Natalie knew Kim had been dreaming of this for ten years; geez, the girl seriously deserved _some _action after all this time. All Natalie hoped for was that Kim wouldn't fall too hard too fast; just because Natalie was a little worried that Rory was right about Jared only being interested in Kim as a joke (Rory nearly always was right—of course, Rory thought she _always _was), and if Jared happened to break Kim, Natalie would be the only one to really care enough to pick up the pieces.

Natalie voiced her opinion of Kim's newfound situation with Jared after school while they waited with Rory in Cami—Kim's Camry—for Alex and Seth to drive them up to Forks for soccer conditioning or something. They did this on the days soccer practice was too early for the boys to take the _one _bus from La Push to Forks. "I mean, if he's interested, go on and be with him, but be _careful, _okay?" Natalie told Kim from the driver's seat—Kim had kept true to her promise and Natalie would be the one driving home.

Kim herself was in a bit of a daze. It was like floating on a cloud; she felt _above _the world somehow. Untouchable. Invincible. Confident. Every bit the girl she'd always wished she could be.

It all came crashing down with a the shrill ring of her cell phone coming from under Natalie's seat. Natalie had jumped, the sudden jolt causing her sensitive nose to bleed. Pulling out the old Nokia, Kim flipped it open.

"Hello?" Kim asked, slightly wary of who was on the other side.

"_Thank God, Kimberly. It shouldn't take so long to answer a _phone!" A shrill voice practically shouted in Kim's ear; she winced. It was her mother, Liana, who hands down had to be the most demanding person who ever existed.

"Hi, Mom," Kim muttered, looking around as if looking for a possible escape route. Natalie murmured something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "The Witch is calling". Kim tactfully chose to ignore that comment; Natalie had _very _low opinions of her mother, which were unfounded because, Kim knew, her mother only wanted what was best for them.

"_Don't 'Hi, Mom' me, young lady! I just heard from Sabrina Carlton's mother that you were all over some boy in your class! What kind of behavior is that, Kimberly?" _

_ "_Mom, that's not true—"

"_So you're lying! Are you trying to _ruin _the family name? I swear, you've just gotten into my bad graces, young lady. I'll punish you when you get home!"_

_ "_I didn't do anything!" Kim protested, knowing it was useless.

"_Don't even try that, Kimberly! I cannot _believe _you! Here I am, slaving away for you ungrateful children all day and this is how you repay me? It's a give-give family, Kimberly, and it's time you put _some _effort around the house or did something useful for yourself!"_

_ "_But—"

"_Goodbye, Kimberly!" _Thankfully, Liana hung up and Kim was given a moment to slam her head into the dashboard of her car. Reality was back; her mother bursting Kim's happy Jared-bubble she'd existed in for the

_ "_Dude, your mom's a bitch," Natalie remarked truthfully, looking taken aback.. The backseat door opened, Alex bursting into the car to shove his twin out of the way, Seth trailing quietly behind him on his crutches.

"Kim, Fred Lionel was saying that you and Jared Cameron—" Alex began, his lips quirking upwards into an evil smirk on his handsome face.

"Alexander, how immature are you?" Rory came to Kim's defense mostly on her own agenda: she and Alex did everything they could to annoy one another.

"Hi, Kim, hi, Natalie." Seth greeted amiably, genuinely happy to see them. "How are you?"

"Good, Seth. How are you?" Kim asked back, ignoring Alex and Rory has their squabble escalated into a fight.

"Wait, _Natalie's _driving? Kim, do you _want _us _dead? _She drives like a maniac on hard drugs!" Alex looked incredulously from Kim to Natalie, just noticing that it wasn't his sister driving.

"You wouldn't know how a maniac on hard drugs drives like!" Natalie snapped, revving the engine and putting the car in drive.

"Laura's worse." Kim said honestly.

"You're just jealous because the state knows you're too stupid to ever legally drive!" Rory snarled at Alex. Seth quickly jumped in, engaging Alex in a conversation about a girl named Vera who apparently liked Alex to distract him from Rory. Seth had always been the mediator between Alex and Rory; Kim recalled doing a project in sophomore English on Freudian Trios using Alex, Seth, and Rory. A Freudian trio had three parts—Ego, Superego, and Id; the Superego was the one who acted as the critical, rational-minded conscience of the group, essentially the analyzer and the brains; the Id was the one who acted on instinct, emotion, and impulse; the Ego was the one who mediated between the two, the bridge between instinct and thought. Rory, Alex, and Seth fit the bill for Superego, Id, and Ego so well that Kim had gotten an A on the project.

"Anyway, Kim, are you and Jared a thing now?" Alex asked, finally bored of his conversation about Vera.

"Well…uh, not exactly…" Kim squirmed, wishing she were driving so she'd have an excuse not to answer.

"He's started hanging out with Sam, isn't he?" Alex ignored Kim, moving onto the next source of information. Kim privately thought that Alex was turning out to be a bit of a gossipy old lady; he couldn't keep a secret to save his life and certainly liked to talk.

"Yes," Seth answered, clenching his jaw, his seemingly smile faltering. Sam Uley had practically been Seth's brother—he'd even planned on marrying Leah, so it would have been official—and to say Seth had been crushed by Sam's betrayal would have been putting it lightly. Of course, Leah had taken it worse, since Sam had really betrayed _her _and not Seth, but Seth had not entirely warmed to the idea of Sam with his second cousin Emily yet.

"Aren't they on drugs or something? I mean, steroids are nasty and everything, but _man! _I'd kill to be buff like them!" Alex said in admiration, looking at the lean muscles on his body with distaste.

"I bet they are! Maybe _then _we'll get to see what a maniac on hard drugs driving looks like!" Rory said, faking enthusiasm. Alex glared at her.

"I really don't know what he was thinking, dumping Leah for Emily. I mean, Emily's nice and all, and she makes some _mean _muffins, not to mention she was real nice-looking, you know, before her accident, but Leah is _hot. _I just don't see the logic!" Alex complained, either ignoring or not noticing the nauseated look on Seth's face.

"Can we never call my sister—or my cousin—hot _ever a_gain, please?" Seth asked, his voice strained. Alex looked over at him in honest confusion.

"What's up with you, man?" He asked, his lack of tact not helping his situation.

"Alex, you're so stupid! He doesn't want to hear how hot you think his sister is! It'd be like him going on and on about Laura or me or Natalie! Or even _Kim!_" Rory snapped, smacking her brother across the back of the head with an AP Chemistry book.

"Dude, I don't own him! He can jack off to whoever he likes—"

"LOVELY WEATHER, DON'T YOU THINK, KIM? I THINK I'LL TURN ON SOME MUSIC!" Natalie said too loudly. She turned on the music, grimacing as Cyndi Lauper blasted from the speakers. "So not in the mood," she said, popping out the CD and jamming another one in. Kelly Clarkson's voice filled the car, causing everyone besides Kim and Natalie to groan loudly.

The rest of the ride was rather uneventful beyond Kelly Clarkson and Natalie making wild turns and almost hitting a dog. Luckily for Seth and Alex, there was only seven or so minutes left in the ride to Forks, so they weren't forced to endure Kelly Clarkson or Natalie's driving for too long before they could escape. Unfortunately, the girls couldn't return to La Push yet because Kim and Natalie worked at Seth's family's diner as waitresses after school and on weekends for Elizabeth Fuller, Seth and Leah's aunt, who ran the diner. Technically, Elizabeth (or Liz, as she liked to be called) co-owned the diner with her brothers Harry and Daniel, but they didn't put much work into it beyond Daniel doing the taxes (he was an accountant) and Harry paying to have the place kept in good shape. Usually Rory came with them, studying quietly at her table in the corner.

"Hiya Nat! How's it going, Kim? Howdya do, Rory?" Liz said when they had entered the diner's kitchen from the back door.

"Hi, Liz," Natalie said, going into the small bathroom to change into her uniform. Rory just nodded solemnly, walking to her solitary table.

"So, Kim, I heard from Brady today that you and one of Sam Uley's boys—" Brady was Liz's son and Seth's cousin, in the eight grade.

"Oh, Liz, not you, too!"

"What do you mean? I was gonna congratulate you, you know! Jared's a fine-looking boy, and Harry says he's a good kid. Of course, the rumors aren't good but I stand by my brother's judgement," Liz said, nodding her dark head enthusiastically as she grilled sandwiches.

"Oh, well, thanks. I guess," Kim said awkwardly, wishing Natalie would hurry up and get out of the bathroom. Liz was still looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for something. Kim blinked when Liz added, "...and? What happened?"

"Well…uh, in first period he randomly stared at me and then he asked me out to this party thing and asked me to eat lunch with him and Paul Lahote so I did. And then for the rest of the day he met me outside of all of my classes and walked me to my locker and carried my books. He likes _Star Wars _and likes doritos and he even offered me a ride home but I already have a car!"

"Wow. Productive day," Natalie remarked, emerging from the bathroom in her blue waitressing uniform. Kim rolled her eyes, taking her own uniform and going in to change.

The other waitresses on duty, Maya and Andrea, came back into the kitchen; Maya to put on her coat—it was January, after all—and leave; Andrea to give Liz an order. They both greeted Kim kindly; they were sort of friends, but Maya and Andrea were both working to pay their way through Peninsula College in Port Angeles while living at home in Forks.

Kim really didn't mind waitressing all that much; of course, the way Natalie talked about it, it was a job from hell. Somehow (and luckily for Kim), all of the difficult customers always sat in Natalie's stations. Noisy children, demanding mothers, picky customers, people who were just plain rude…Natalie had seen it all, and lived to tell the tale.

"Kim, you _won't believe _who just sat down at my station!" Natalie exclaimed from behind the bar as Kim fixed coffee and lemon cake for some customer.

Looking over Natalie's shoulder, Kim nearly squealed in delight; she barely managed to contain herself to say, relatively nonchalantly: "Sam Uley, Jared, and Paul?"

"How'd you guess?" Natalie looked incredulous. Indeed, the gigantic, muscled masses of Jared, Paul, and Sam were all squished into a booth and looking over menus. Kim suspected that whoever usually cooked for them—probably Leah Clearwater's cousin the boyfriend-stealer who had gotten mauled by a bear—was unavailable, so they were going to the next nearest source of food. After being paired with Paul for a disastrous project in a Home Ec class, Kim knew that he could burn water and cause potentially fatal food poisoning; she wasn't just shooting in the dark when she suspected that neither Jared nor Sam could cook either.

"Telepathy," Kim smirked to herself. Natalie looked around, turned back to Kim, and rolled her eyes in one fluid motion.

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious."

"Don't play that with me, I'm not stupid."

"You _look _stupid."

"You _look _stupider."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do _not."_

"Look, I _bet _they'll request you as their server, so you ought to just cut to the chase and take that booth for me." Natalie said, attempting to subtly edge around Kim so that she could have better leverage to push Kim in the direction of Jared and his friends.

"They won't."

"They will."

"Won't."

"Will you two _grow up _already?" A pencil soared through the air, hitting Natalie squarely on the side of the head. Rory glared at them from her table before returning to whatever hell—excuse me, _AP Calculus_—she was doing. Natalie grumbled, rubbing the side of her head with an annoyed grimace on her face. They both were silent for a moment, before Kim muttered: "Won't."

"Fine, I'll prove it to you!" Natalie snapped, snatching her pen from Kim and taking out her waitress's book, stalking over to their table in a huff. Kim shrugged, delivering the coffee and lemon cake to a smiling Mr. Peterson.

"I'm Natalie. I'll be your sever this evening. What can I get you to drink, or would you like more time to decide?" Natalie recited the 'Waitress's Script' in a bored, flat tone.

"Uh…can we get Kim as—" Jared began, looking awkward. He was trying to avoid hurting Natalie's feelings, but when Natalie practically sprinted away.

"Told ya told ya told ya! I _told _you so!" Natalie waltzed away, smirking to herself and muttering, "Always right, I am."

Kim stumbled over to Jared's table, feeling his eyes on her. Walking slowly and trying very hard not to face plant right in front of him. Thank God her uniform didn't include heels or God forbid, roller skates. "Hi," she said, blushing slightly. He smiled widely at her, putting the phrase 'grinning from ear to ear' to shame.

"Hi, Kim," he sighed, like her name was sacred. Paul made several gagging noises, and received a stern glare from Sam.

"Um…I'm Kim, and I'll be your waitress today," she said. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yeah…can I have three cheeseburgers, two orders of cheese fries, two orders of onion rings, with a side of coleslaw, and a large Coke? Please?" Jared asked, his eyes never leaving his menu. Kim scribbled that down, not wanting to judge him on his odd eating habits.

"I'll have the same thing, but with _three _orders of onion rings, and two grilled cheese sandwiches." Paul said, not bothering to look up from his menu.

"White or wheat?" Kim asked, her pen poised over her notepad. Paul put some serious thought into his decision, like world peace depended on his choice, before decided on white. Sam, too, ordered a mountainous amount of food. Kim couldn't help but raise her eyebrows as she read out their order for them, with them adding more food as she read. Kim went back to the kitchen, giving Liz the orders and ignoring Liz's whistle in surprise at the sheer amount the "La Push gang" had ordered.

"You'd think they were storing away for winter or something," Natalie remarked as she helped Kim carry the enormous amounts of food out to their table—each "gang" member had a separate tray to himself.

"How are they _not _fat?" Rory asked, looking up from her table and staring, effectively gobsmacked, at the three boys—men, really—scarf down the food in record time. Paul glared over at her over on of his burgers, before going on to stuff the entire thing into his mouth. He laughed through his mouthful of food at the disgusted expression. Jared noticed the shared looks of revulsion on Rory, Natalie, Kim, and the other waitress, Andrea, he quickly smacked Paul across the back of the head, muttering something like, "That's Kim's sister, you idiot!" To which Paul replied something suspiciously like: "You haven't even gotten into her pants yet and you're whipped". Kim was sure she would have to break up a brawl at that point; Jared looked simply murderous. His face was contorted in rage, rough tremors rocking his body.

"Jared, calm down _now. _Paul, you do _not _say things like that about Kim, or Emily. _Ever. _Got it?" Sam practically snarled at Paul, who looked slightly abashed, and to Kim's immense surprise, he _actually listened_. Jared, too, had calmed down immensely and was looking apologetically at Kim, as if he was personally embarrassed that she had to see him like that.

Wait a minute…_Emily! _That was the girl-who-had-gotten-mauled-by- a-bear-and-was-a-boyfriend-stealing-cousin's name. Emily Young. Yes, it all came back to Kim now. She remembered Alex going on (and on and on and on) about how _hot _Seth's cousin Emily was when she had come to visit a year or two ago. God, Alex was such a _boy._

"Hiya, Kim!" Natalie must have sensed an awkward moment, because she plunged in with her own conversation "Ah. If it isn't Jared _freaking _Cameron, back for another chance to best me at playful banter. No? I'll still serve you some, my treat. Hello, Paul, Sam. What's up?" Not waiting for a response, Natalie led Kim away. "Kim, would you do me a favor? Those guys over there are going all perv on my ass, so if you could…" Natalie said as Kim shook her head, a smirk on her face. "Please? I'll owe you!"

"You already owe me."

"I'll love you forever!"

"You better."

"Um…please?"

"No."

"Fine. Maybe I'll innocently mention to Jared about the dead fish incident…" Natalie trailed off, turning around as if she planned on going over to their table. Kim's eyes widened comically in fear.

"You _wouldn't." _

_ "_Take the pervy table, then."

"_No!" _

"Fine, then. You know, I feel bad for that fish. He boldly went where no fish has ever gone before! And where no one else has gone, for that matter—"

"Natalie, will you drop it?" Kim glanced at Jared's table, willing him to not have heard Natalie.

"I _still _can't believe you didn't notice a slimy, dead _fish _in your girl par—" Natalie guffawed loudly, slapping her knee.

"You say what I think you're going to say and I'll bash your head in with this napkin dispenser!" Kim threatened, brandishing a napkin dispenser over Natalie's head menacingly.

"All right, I yield! I surrender!" Natalie theatrically waved a white napkin to emphasize this point.

"Natalie Wright, you had _better not _be fighting with napkin dispensers again! I told you, you're still on probation from last time!" Liz called from the kitchen loudly, causing Kim to drop the napkin dispenser on Natalie's head, her volatile nose beginning to bleed as she grumbled.

"Crazy lady has a sixth sense, I _swear!" _she mumbled to herself as Kim laughed and moved to fill up a glass of coke. Jared and his friends were done surprisingly fast, each leaving a wad of bills on the table before disappearing, though Jared gave Kim a rueful smile as he left.

"That boy has got it _bad _for you, girl." Liz brandished a spatula at Kim as she and Natalie put on their coats and prepared to leave the diner. Alex and Seth had come back in, boasting of Alex's prowess (Alex) and complaining about having a sprained ankle meaning you had to do two hours of push ups and planks (Seth).

Kim pretended that she hadn't heard Liz's observation, turning her back to the older Quileute woman and smiling wistfully to herself. _If only, _Kim thought sadly, sighing softly and following Natalie out of the kitchen. _But it's too good to be true._

**A/N: Isn't the dead fish in the swimsuit gross? It happened to a friend of mine, which is a hilarious story that I... just had to put in this story for some reason. Review!**_  
><em>


	6. Chapter 5: Wolf in the Garden

**A/N: Not much Jared in this chapter, but he will take a large part of the next chapter.**

**Also, thanks SO much to all of those who reviewed/alerted/favorited. It was greatly appreciated! I can't reply to y'all individually 'cuz I'm a busy person, but thanks again.**

**Review and enjoy!**

"_No one is listening until you make a mistake."_

—_Unknown_

Have you ever pulled into your driveway and taken extra care to fumble with your keys as much as you can? Have you ever tried to search for an item you _know _is in your bag? Have you ever trudged up the front walk, walking as slow as possible deliberately?

All because you _know _your mom is waiting in the living room, ready to pounce on you for whatever trouble you've gotten into while you were out?

Well, Kim had done that routine more times than she can count. Alex and Rory were already inside, no doubt, probably doing sit-ups or hogging the computer for online classes, respectively, and Kim was still sitting in the car, her mother's words from her earlier phone call running on repeat through her mind.

_I'll punish you when you get home. I'll punish you when you get home. I'll punish you when you get home. I'll—_

_ Oh, fuck this. _Kim gathered her crap into her schoolbag and climbed out of Cami, slamming the door with unnecessary force. _Why delay the inevitable, anyway? _Kim thought, the knowledge that she was destined for a good chewing out making her grimace. Liana is always pissed in the time between the daytime shift as a maid to graveyard shift at hospital reception desk in Forks (job #3), and there really isn't anything you can do to avoid her wrath beyond attempting to hide in the linen closet.

Taking care to kick a stray pebble back into the gravel driveway with as much force as she could muster (and stubbing her toe in the process), Kim had begun to meander her way up to the front door when the eerie sensation of being watched fell across her. She could sense someone's eyes on her back like laser beams, and it was enough to make her whirl around and glare into the woods across the street from her house. She saw no one as her dark eyes began to rove the shadows between the tree trunks, but the feeling hadn't left.

_Anyone—_or any_thing—_could be hiding behind those trees.

With that disconcerting thought, Kim walked up to the front door as slowly as she dared. Her hand had barely touched the beat-up brass doorknob when the door was wrenched open so fast that a gust of air hit her face, and Kim found herself face to face with a force of nature dressed in a Maid-to-be-Clean uniform. A very angry force of nature; the kind of force of nature that screams _You will pay if you cross me. _

"Kimberly Perdita Connweller, what the _hell _were you thinking?" Liana Connweller crossed her arms, and at 5'9", the woman was freaking scary. Especially when genetics forced you to have to look up to her.

"Hi, Mom," Kim sighed, avoiding looking at her mother and moving to go past her into the house.

"Don't you _dare _'Hi, Mom' me, young lady! I've half a mind to make you sleep _outside _tonight, you hear? Dear God, what the fuck have you been _doing? _Or should I say _who?" _Liana narrowed her blue eyes. Somehow, Liana had lucked out with blue eyes, which were almost never seen on the reservation. Kim would have been intimidated by this woman if she had just crossed her in the street, let alone having to live with her and obey her. Liana was good-looking, but tired and weary, like someone who'd been beautiful once but life had smacked the beauty out of her; she looked like Pocahontas might have looked like after she'd been taken to England and known she would die there, never to see her tribe or homeland ever again.

"I haven't—" Kim began, but Liana's blue eyes glared at her, silently daring her to continue. Kim cut off quickly.

"Don't you _dare _sass me, young lady!" Liana snapped. "I _cannot _believe that Daphne _Carlton _told me that you were all over that Cameron boy in _school! _Good God, Kim, the last thing _you _need is a reputation! I will _not _have a slut in this family! You hear me? I get one more _word _of this and you're out, you understand me?" Kim resisted rolling her eyes. She doubted Liana had even _noticed _that Laura hadn't come home yet and probably wouldn't make an appearance until the next day, or maybe even the weekend. Laura wasn't exactly subtle about the fact that she was at her on-again off-again boyfriend Tyler's; her underwear drawer would be left open, her overnight bag gone, her perfume lingering in excess in the room, and her black heels would be gone. Liana had to look _very _far the other way to ignore the fact that there already was the a Connweller family slut, and it certainly wasn't invisible-to-all-males-except-Jared-Cameron-inexplicably Kim.

"Yes, Mom."

"I suppose you think it's _okay _for you to just exercise your _needs _whenever you want, Kimberly? Well, at least _Laura _is discreet about it." Ah, yes. The unspoken opinion that always seemed to be repeated wherever Kim went.

_Why can't you be like Laura?_

_ Why aren't you asserting yourself, Kim? I mean, your sister Rory is one of the greatest… _

_ You know, Alex was so good in the game last night. Kim, why didn't you ever go into sports? You have to be good at _something, _right?_

_ Oh, Kim, what a good job on this test. You know, Laura might be the beautiful sister, but you can always be the smart one, right? Except your younger sister…I've heard such great things about her! I guess you _aren't _the smart sister, then, huh? Well, I guess all families need one of _those, _I guess._

What the fuck was 'one of _those' _anyway? The family screw up? The loser? The ne'er-do-well? The this-is-who-you_-don't-_want-to-be-when-you-grow-up? The flop?

"Go make yourself useful, for _once. _I can't look at you right now." Liana stepped aside, putting her head in her hand. Kim took the opportunity to rush past her mother into the dimly-lit living room/kitchen/dining room/den. The Dash room, named for the numerous dashes in its name, had been painted green once, a long time ago, and the paint was peeling and faded on the walls. It was mostly kitchen, with stained, faded yellow linoleum floor tiles and a rickety old table and sink that always leaked; there was an old TV with an antennae and really bad reception (watching regular TV wasn't really an option unless you liked soap operas or the Spanish channel) in front of a patched-up couch that might have been green once, but now was brown.

Alex was draped in front of the TV, taking up the entire green couch for himself and watching a Sonics game. His dog, a border collie called Flower (inexplicable; Kim had always thought Alex was weird), was sitting next to him on the floor, his head positioned perfectly for Alex to scratch him. Rory was positioned behind the TV and attempting to make it work. She may have nearly been a genius, but Rory clearly wasn't the next Thomas Edison. However, she managed to get ESPN with only a fair amount of static, so Kim supposed it was so sort of accomplishment. Neither of them bothered to look up at her when Kim entered the house. As suspected, Laura was nowhere to be seen.

_Just play it cool, _Kim thought as she began to quietly hurry to the stairs. _You get to your room and you've successfully passed Mom without severe punishment!_

"Oh, and Kimberly?" Liana called, shoving the door closed behind her. _Shit, _Kim thought. _Not so home free after all. "_You're on Grandmama duty tonight."

Kim stifled a groan, merely nodding at her mother and continuing on her path to the stairs. Grandmama was probably one of the oldest people in the tribe; certainly, she was older than Billy Black and Old Quil Ateara (Quil Ateara III). Kim couldn't pinpoint her exact age, but she was definitely in her late eighties, having been alive when Ephraim Black was chief of the tribe. Liana had said that she'd been on the Council of Elders in the 80s, but Alzheimer's disease and general senility had severely limited Grandmama's mental capacity. She'd retired and had become slightly agoraphobic in more recent years, as well as more or less insane, and rarely left her room, and Kim had only seen her set foot outside once, on a day when it was sunny and Kim was twelve.

Grandmama duty consisted of keeping Grandmama's room clean and making sure that there weren't very many things Grandmama could use to harm herself or others, considering that she was sometimes prone to fits of insane rage, in which she would throw whatever she could get her hands on at whoever was with her at the time.

She needed to be looked after, and with Kim's Uncle Roger (Liana's brother) in Los Angeles pursuing his music career (that had been a bust; Uncle Roger was now a janitor at some high school in LA instead, and rarely came home for holidays) and Aunt Renata living off the land or cleansing her aura or supporting whatever weird hippie cause Aunt Renata was in favor of, Grandmama's care had fallen on Liana. Or, more accurately, Kim, since Liana worked almost 24/7 and Kim's siblings rarely bothered with Grandmama. Kim was easily the most patient and gentle of any of her family members, with Liana being generally hot-tempered and having her patience worn thin by the three jobs she worked, and she was able to put up with Grandmama the best. That, and the fact that Kim was the only one able to approach Grandmama without eliciting a fit of panic in the old woman, were prime reasons that Kim was always the one to look after her great-grandmother.

The house had four bedrooms, although two of them were more like walk-in closets than bedrooms. One was for Laura and Kim; another for the twins, which had gotten increasingly awkward once they hit puberty; one for Liana, which had been her childhood room and was the room in which Aunt Renata stayed in whenever she chose to drop by; and one for Grandmama, which had a blue door with a large, brass doorknob that didn't close all the way. Dropping her schoolbag in the doorway of her and Laura's room, Kim quietly wrapped her tan hand around the brass doorknob and turned it. It squeaked loudly, the door swinging open and light falling on the cluttered room before her.

Grandmama's room always had a stuffy, musty odor to it, like old aromatherapy candles Aunt Renata had brought home from a trip in San Diego a few years before. If the old woman ever cracked open on of the windows, Kim would have been surprised; they were always shut and heavily curtained. It was messy, dirty clothes and dishes littering the floor. How long had it been since Kim had cleaned in here? She was not so sure, but it must have been a long, long while.

"Hello, Grandmama," Kim said softly, flipping the light switch. There was a rustle in the pile of blankets on the bed before a withered hand reached out from the recesses and hurled a plate at Kim. Ducking the plate and hearing it shatter against the door, Kim began gathering the old dishes and stacking them together to take back downstairs.

Around twenty minutes later, Grandmama's room was sufficiently clean and Kim had managed to dodge almost all objects that her great-grandmother had thrown her way, minus a mug that had connected with her forehead and left a red mark.

Balancing the plates on her arms, Kim treaded cautiously on the worn carpet and squeaky floor, hoping to pass by her mother. Kim had just made it behind the kitchen counter when—

"Kimberly?" Kim cursed under her breath at Liana's voice.

"Yes, Mom?" Liana appeared in the kitchen, leaning against the refrigerator and looking stern.

"Kimberly, you know I just want the best for you, right?" Kim nodded meekly, her eyes on the floor. "You haven't given me much to work with, but you can't throw everything I've worked so hard to give you on a little schoolgirl crush. That Cameron boy is bad news, Kimberly, and you don't want to get mixed up with that sort of boy. A girl like you—lonely and naïve with a semi-satisfactory body," Kim stiffened as Liana gestured at Kim's person, stung by her mother's hurtful words, "That boy's a real miscreant. Daphne Carlton was telling me that that Sam Uley boy's gotten him and that Paul Lahote mixed up in some sort of drug business." Liana's eyes narrowed, and she stalked towards Kim threateningly. "If I get hear one _tiny implication _that you are running with the wrong crowd so help me God, I will beat you within an inch of your life! You understand me, Kimberly?" At this point, Liana was waving her finger in Kim's face, so close that they were nearly nose to nose.

"Y-yes, Mom," Kim stuttered, studying the crummy linoleum floor as if it were a recently recovered Da Vinci masterpiece. Kim knew her mother wouldn't really _hit _her, but she certainly wouldn't go unpunished—probably extra chores, derision, and being ignored. Kim was used to being ignored; no one bothered to look past her siblings to see her. Kim kept to the shadows and she liked it there, for the most part.

But would it _kill _her mother to give her _some _sort of recognition? Her own mother! _I can't do anything right, can I? _Kim thought dejectedly. When something good happened to Kim, like making straight As or something, Rory or Laura or Alex managed to outdo her by doing practically _nothing_ at all.

It just wasn't fair that_ some _people got to be born perfect whilst _others_ got to be born _average. _

Mediocre. Ordinary. Standard. Typical. Dull. Boring. Insecure. Quiet. Shy. Timid. Self-conscious. Plain. Average. Average. Average. _Average_! _Fucking _average!

It just wasn't fair that some people got to be beautiful like Laura and athletic like Alex and smart like Rory while she, Kim, was just… Kim.

It certainly wasn't fair that she had to be _related _to them.

"Good, now leave me alone. I can't bare to look at you right now, Kimberly." Liana turned around, signaling the end of the discussion.

Kim sighed softly, leaving the Dash room and going up the stairs, making sure to tiptoe past Grandmama's room. Picking up her schoolbag, Kim entered her room and sighed again. It was sparsely furnished, with only two dressers, a desk, and a bunk bed to count as furniture. However, it was pretty messy around Laura's dresser and as predicted, the overnight bag was gone, the underwear drawer open, and the whole room smelled of Heart of Darkness perfume.

Tossing Laura's ballet flat into the closet and shuffling to her bed on the bottom bunk, Kim pulled out her phone and pressed 3 on the speed dial.

Natalie picked up after three rings. "_What do you want?"_

_ "_Natalie? It's Kim." Kim said, as if Natalie's caller ID hadn't given that away.

"_I know, dipshit. Your mom kill you yet?"_Natalie yawned loudly, making her displeasure at being called known.

"Oh, yeah, because I'm totally calling you from the _afterlife!"_

_ "I guess she did, then, huh? What she'd tear into you for this time? Wait—let me guess. Your shoes were untied. No? You didn't make Student of the Month. No? Okay, uh…Rory's doing better in college level courses than you are in junior level? Alex can actually run without cramping and beat a new record at school? Laura won money in a pageant? Rory got accepted into a new Quiz Bowl tourney?"_

_ "_No. Sabrina Carlton's mom told_—"_

_ "Ah! That bitch! She totally ratted me out to my dad for skipping class that one time! I fucking hate Daphne Carlton! And Sabrina's a gossipy bitch, and Irina's a little nitwit slut. I heard she's got a thing for your brother, did you?"_

_ "_Natalie!" Kim shouted. Natalie quieted somewhat. "Mrs. Carlton told my mom about Jared asking me out."

Natalie whistled in appreciation. "_No shit? Damn, girl, how are you still alive_?"

"You're being discouragingly nonchalant about this, Natalie." Kim snapped, more than a little on edge from her scolding from Liana.

"_Eh, I just woke up from a twenty minute nap; I'm never particularly enthused about anything until I've been awake for at least half an hour_," Kim could practically _see _Natalie shrug. "_Are you excited for your date with Jared, Kim_?"

Kim blushed at the warm glow that rushed through her at that thought. "Yes! I'm so excited I can hardly _breathe! _I've just gotta keep a low profile 'round Mom so I don't get grounded this weekend."

"_Yeah, that'd suck_," Natalie agreed.

"Totally. You wanna stay over after so I can tell you about it?"

"_Sure, that's cool. I wasn't invited or anything, so…yeah. It's not like I have anything _better _to do_," Natalie sounded more than a little bitter about it, so Kim decided to play it cool and pretend like she'd never noticed anything resentful about Natalie's tone.

"So, sleepover? Laura'll probably break up with good ol' Tyler so she can have free reign at the party, and knowing her, she'll be gone that night, so you can have her bunk."

"_Ew, Laura's sex bed? You think I _want _STDs?_"

"Really, Nat? That's like saying you could get pregnant from a toilet seat!"

"You can!" Natalie insisted. Kim rolled her eyes, rummaging through her backpack.

"That's a myth, Natalie. Besides, Laura never brings guys home. Mom would have her head." Kim moved over towards the window to grab a pencil glancing out the window as she did. Kim did a double take, dropping the pencil to the ground and blinking.

"_Kim? Kim? You still there?" _Natalie asked, concerned when Kim stopped talking. But Kim had a very, very good reason to ignore Natalie and rub her eyes repeatedly. The reason?

There was a fucking _wolf _in her backyard.

The wolf was bigger than her car, almost as tall as her. She would have thought it a bear if she hadn't seen the lupine snout, ears, and legs. It was a brownish color, with long, sharp claws and a glowing eyes. And it was staring _right at her. _It didn't move, just eerily sitting there, staring at her window. Into her eyes, and into her soul. She felt like she was on fire under its penetrating gaze, like she had been cold all her life and was finally being warm; like she'd been confined to a cave her whole life and was just now feeling the warmth and soothing calm of sunlight on her skin.

_Holy shit holy shit holy shit _was on a constant stream in Kim's mind, despite the fact that it wasn't from fear so much as shock and bewilderment.

Kim blinked. The wolf was gone, and with it went any warmth Kim had in her bones. She found herself inexplicably missing the comforting presence of the wolf in her yard.

"_Kim? What the fuck? Are you there?"_

_ "_Sorry, Natalie," Kim apologized, shaking her head as if ridding it off water. "I'm really tired, I think I should go to bed."

"_Oh, well! Bye," _a click and a dial tone echoed on the other end; Natalie had hung up. Kim flipped her phone shut and tossed it on the bed.

"Why do I feel like I'm living in some sort of fairy tale?" Kim asked herself. First Jared noticing her romantically, and then she's finding comfort in the presence of a mutant monster. Her life was getting pretty weird.

Oh, if only she knew.

**A/N: Foreshadowing...? Ahem, YES! Review, and Happy Belated Earth Day! **


	7. Chapter 6: It's Too Bad

**A/N: I'm working into the Jared/Kim relationship. Please, let me know what you think. Review!**

"_You're in a car with a beautiful boy, and you're trying not to tell him that you love him, and you're trying to choke down the feeling, and you're trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist. You feel your heart taking root in your body, like you've discovered something you didn't even have a name for."_

It seemed, after years of being the object of Kimberly Connweller's unrequited affections, that Jared Cameron was determined to make up for lost time.

In essence, he wouldn't leave her alone. Which was to Kim's delight and almost _everyone _else's chagrin.

To Jared's friend Paul Lahote, Jared's sudden interest in Kim was wearing on his already thin patience because Jared would not _shut the fuck up _about her. Paul could only take so much description of Kim's dimples and hair and teeth and smile before he found himself bored sick of the girl and ready to punch something (preferably Jared).

To Rory, the whole affair did not match up to anything she could have predicted and just, logically, did not make _sense. _Rory did not _like _things that didn't make sense. At all. So generally, she took a passive-aggressive stance against the relationship and complained about it a lot.

To Natalie, Jared was an unwelcome, unwanted, and unsolicited stalker that she had to put up with because Kim was so goddamn in love with him. She was quick to roll her eyes at any lovesick behavior from Kim or Jared, or Kim and Jared together. She had also none-too-gently slapped Kim in an effort to snap her out of her Jared-induced funk. Jared, of course, objected vehemently to this treatment of Kim and in retaliation, he did not like Natalie much.

To Alex, Jared was a pretty cool guy, and Alex couldn't bring himself to interfere in Kim's social life, although he voiced his opinion (it was more of a detailed analysis of the prospective relationship) _far _too often for anyone's comfort.

To Laura, the whole scenario was a mind-blower. Laura could not _fathom _what Jared saw in her sister Kim, especially after he acquired his new bod. Jared had dumped _Sloan Hammond, _Alpha Bitch of the junior class, to pursue _Kim Connweller, _and to say it was causing a stir would have been an understatement.

To Jared and Kim? Well, neither one of them could stop smiling.

* * *

><p>"Favorite…flower?" Jared asked her during their free study hall period on the Friday after Jared had officially noticed Kim. Neither one of them was really itching to get into Physics homework or anything, and Pre-Calc was generally just less appealing than interrogating one another.<p>

"Um…delphiniums, I think," Kim blushed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her hair and looking up at Jared through her long eyelashes. He grinned down at her, running his hand through his hair, which Kim had discovered was a nervous habit of his.

"Cool," Jared nodded to himself as if cataloging it in his brain. He faced her again, a blinding smile stretching across his handsome features. "Favorite food?"

"Banana bread, hands down," Kim answered confidently. "Natalie's mom makes this _amazing _banana bread for whenever they have people over, and it's just…_wow. _I can make banana bread, but it's _nothing _to Mrs. Wright. Mine always comes out too moist."

Jared frowned at her. "I doubt it. I bet you make the _best _banana bread _anywhere._" Kim scoffed loudly, rolling her eyes as if he had some hilarious joke. When Jared didn't join in on her laughter and instead stared at her seriously, obviously having been completely sincere, Kim just blushed and let out an awkward laugh.

"You'd be the only one," Kim said softly, too softly for him to hear her. He frowned again as if he _had, _but that was impossible—she'd barely breathed it!

"So, favorite animal?" He continued his interrogation with a slight wrinkle between his brow, and Kim was startled by the need to smooth it out with her finger. _Maybe kiss it out, too…_

As wonderful as that sounded, she couldn't embarrass herself anymore than she undoubtedly would by the end of this conversation. Besides, she was only partially sure he would kiss her back if she kissed him. Oh, God, what if he was repulsed by her? What if she had spinach between her teeth? What if her breath smelled? What if she salivated too much? Laura _had _said that almost nothing was grosser than swimming in a lover's spit while kissing…oh, God, she'd be one of those really nasty kissers, wouldn't she? Her heart raced, a crazed battle drum hammering inside her suddenly tightening chest.

But kissing him would be…_amazing…_

"Kim? Kim?" Jared's large russet hand was being waved frantically under her nose. Oh, God. She'd totally spaced…about _kissing _him! _Fuck my life, _Kim internally groaned."_Kim? _Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse? See a doctor? I'll call 911!" This would have been kind of funny if Jared hadn't been completely 100% serious about calling 911. He even had his cell phone out of his pocket, poised to dial three letters and call an ambulance.

"Oh God, Jared, I'm sorry! I totally spaced! I'm okay," Kim assured him, placing a comforting hand on his arm. Or, at least, it was intended to be comforting. Instead of calming down, Jared seemed to zone out for a second, his whole body tensing up. He closed his eyes, taking labored breaths through the nose, the arm Kim still touched trembling slightly. The touch itself, while meant innocently, became something more as fire seemed to radiate from his arm into her hand.

Jerking back as if she'd been burned, Kim blushed furiously. "So…um, favorite animal…" she attempted to return to his original question awkwardly, but luckily, Jared was also keen to dispel the sudden tension that seemed to erupt between them at the intensity of her innocent touch and eagerly jumped on her opening for conversation.

"Yeah, what is your favorite animal, anyway?" He grinned slightly, a lingering awkwardness between them.

"Well, I've always liked…_squirrels." _Kim's lips twisted in an uncharacteristically wry smirk.

Jared was incredulous, staring at her open-mouthed but with good humor in his dark eyes. "_Squirrels? _Of all the animals on the planet, you pick _squirrels?"_

Kim knew he was just teasing her, and the more time she spent with Jared, the easier it was for her to be around him and not make a _complete _idiot of herself. Emphasis on the _complete. "_Well, you see, when my friend—well, Natalie, obviously—was around six or something, she was outside in her backyard and, oh, I don't know _what _she was thinking, but she decided it would be a good idea to catch a squirrel or something. And, well, the squirrel went…_nuts _on her," Kim was extremely proud of herself; she'd made him _laugh, _even if it was with an _extremely _cheesy joke_. _But still, score! "And she has always been _terrified _of squirrels ever since. I tell you, it's the _funniest thing, _and whenever I need a laugh or something, some squirrel always wanders right next to us or something and she _flips. _I've liked squirrels ever since." He was laughing out loud now, attracting the eyes of other study hall-goers; in the spirit of their flirtations, Kim put her hands on her hips and attempted to look sternly at him. It was ruined by the mirth in her eyes and the twitch of her lips, however.

"Well, what's _your _favorite animal, if you're so intent on dissing mine?" Kim challenged, and he gulped back his laughter.

"Easy," he answered without hesitation or preamble, "a wolf."

Kim froze, the image of the wolf in her backyard coming to the forefront of her mind. She'd seen it every night since the first night it'd been there, and while Kim was sure she _should _be afraid that it might be stalking her, she still hadn't breathed a word of it to anyone and was unafraid of its ever present stare at her window.

Seeing Kim looking generally unresponsive, Jared quickly clarified his choice. "You know, like _wolves. _All the legends and stuff are about them. Y'know, like the Spirit Warriors and Taha Aki and Utlapa and stuff. How we're supposedly descended from them and all. If you think about it, wolves are pretty kick-ass. They're the protectors of the tribe and everything. Wolves are just _awesome._"

"You believe all that? All the legends 'n stuff?" Kim asked, cocking her head to the side. He looked away briefly, audibly gulping before he faced her.

"I don't see why not." Jared's voice was tight, like he wanted to say something very badly but couldn't or _wouldn't_ spit it out. "Unless they _are _just a bunch of bedtime stories thought up by a bunch of lazy old men who want to scare kids into staying in bed and whatnot," he added quickly, as if his first answer was cause for suspicion. Kim wasn't really the prying type, so she let it slide, though her curiosity was p

"So, um, about Sabrina's party…" Kim began, and Jared's eyes grew wide as saucers.

"Oh, _no…_you didn't want to go, did you? Oh, god, I'm sorry—"

"No! I—I _want _to,"Kim blushed again while Jared, if possible, grinned even wider. "It's just…is it okay if while we're there…I sort of keep an eye on my sister and my brother? They're _bound _to get in some kind of trouble, and I really don't like the idea of becoming an aunt or something within the next ten months or anything."

"Oh, it's no problem." Jared paused briefly, considering. "Who're you're siblings, again? Do I know them?"

Kim blinked awkwardly. Truthfully, she was surprised that the topic of her siblings hadn't come up before. "Um…well…Laura Connweller? And my little brother Alex is gonna be there, y'know, Alex Connweller? My other sister…Rory, she's not invited or anything…"

"Wait, Laura Connweller is your _sister?" _Jared looked surprised, and Kim felt her heart break a little. Was it _really _so impossible to believe?

"Yeah. She's my older sister." Kim's voice was sharp, and he noticed.

He studied her for a moment, clearly searching her face for any Laura-like features. Well, Kim knew from experience that he wouldn't find _anything. _"You have the same eyes," Jared whispered truthfully, his eyes holding hers like he was afraid that if he didn't, she'd slip away from him.

Kim blushed, looking at him through fluttering eyelashes and attempting to ignore the tightening of her chest. Oddly enough, it was the best compliment she'd ever received.

"Yours are prettier, though," Jared corrected himself, looking completely sincere. Kim's answering smile was blinding as she sat back and bit her lip, returning to her Physics homework. _I take it back, _Kim thought, that_ was the best compliment I've ever gotten._

Jared didn't look at his work for the rest of study hall; choosing instead to study the girl sitting across from him.

* * *

><p>"Oh, <em>c'mon, <em>Laura, _please!"_

_ "_No."

"Just this once?"

"No."

"I bet she'll stop bugging you if you say yes."

"Tempting, but _no."_

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No! Oh my god, just fuck off, Kim!" Laura rolled up her _Seventeen _magazine and smacked her younger sister on the arm with it, rolling her eyes and huffing indignantly. Natalie, lounging on Kim's pillow, chortled obnoxiously, earning a stuffed animal to the face and an affronted look from Kim. Natalie returned the glare, using said stuffed giraffe to stem the sudden blood flow from her nose.

"Please, Laura? I've never been invited to a party before, and this is Jared _Cameron _who asked me! _Jared Cameron!" _Kim repeated for necessary effect, because so far, her attempts at getting her fashion-savvy older sister to help her pick out an outfit for Sabrina Carlton's party.

_ "_I'm aware, Kim," Laura snapped icily, rolling her eyes again. "You haven't shut up about it for _days." _

Kim didn't waver her gaze from her elder sister's face, determinedly staring her down. Laura met her gaze in a fierce face-off, neither willing to back down. Laura, however, looked away first, so surprised that usually submissive Kim hadn't immediately yielded to Laura's own semi-dominance.

"_Fine_," Laura relented, sighing in exasperation and moving to get off the beanbag she'd borrowed from Tyler's house. "But you _owe _me! Don't you _dare _tell Mom that I'm not coming home on Saturday, got it?" Laura added when Kim looked _too _excited, looking sternly at Kim. Kim found that she was more than a little disconcerted at how much Laura resembled Liana with the uncharacteristic sternness to her usual laid-back and nonchalant face. It made Kim think of what her mother might have been like eighteen years ago, when the world knelt at the feet of Liana Callaway.

"Alright, alright! I got it, I owe you and no telling Mom! Just _please, _for the love of _God, _help me pick out an outfit! I have no idea what to wear! Either I look like a nerd, or a prude, or a slut or a Sunday school teacher or—"

"Okay, we _know, _you've got no fashion sense! I've known this for _years, _loser," Laura snapped, rolling her eyes and moving towards the tiny closet. She rummaged around, looking through her closet, because it was _Laura's _closet. Kim's clothes were stored in her dresser and always had been, since Laura's clothes had always taken preference over Kim's, just like Laura had always gotten preference over Kim. So, naturally, Laura had the closet to herself.

Natalie, surprisingly, was silent, content to examine Laura's abandoned _Seventeen _magazine. She was obviously bored, though. She had never had that much of an interest in clothes as long as she looked good. Things like designers and labels and cut jeans were alien to her; she had grown up the youngest and only girl in a family with four older brothers.

Laura stepped back, looking critically to examine Kim. "Hm…well, you're a couple sizes fatter than I am, what are you? A seven?"

"A _five," _Kim snapped angrily.

"Well, either way, you sure as hell aren't fitting into any of _my _clothes! I'm a zero." Laura made a face and sighed. "A _double _zero, but I'm working on it!" The way she said 'double zero' was the way someone might say "I have fungus on my feet and warts on my back".

Kim met Natalie's gaze and they both covered up sniggers and eye rolls at Laura's 'shame' of her body. It was ridiculous; both of them would have _killed _to be double zeros, even if it meant having Laura's could-be-better chest (she made up for it in having nice legs). "_Thanks_, Laura," Kim muttered sarcastically. It's always a blow to the ego to have a girl with a 'hot' body and a beautiful face to criticize her facial features and body in front of a girl with inferior visage. This was something Laura did often, and if _Laura _thought _she _was ugly (it was just the opposite in fact) then there was no question at all in Kim's mind that she was too, except even _more _so.

"Well, you'll have to borrow my shoes; I'm a seven and you're an eight, but you can squeeze." A black boot hit Kim in the face, with its match smacking Natalie in the face (effectively setting off her delicate nose).

"Um…okay," Kim eyed the knee-high pointed-toe leather boots warily as if they were a snake she was being asked to allow into her bed.

"And you can wear this pencil skirt." Laura hurled a black stretchy skirt at the desk chair, successfully making it catch on the edge. "And this top," a white silky top followed the skirt. "And this jacket!" Laura produced a leather jacket, clearly from when she was in middle school and leather jackets were on sale following the end of the grungy fashion of the 90s.

Laura, clearly, was having more fun with this then she'd originally anticipated. "And we should go subtle smoky eye makeup, maybe in earth tones…oh, it'd totally bring out your eyes!"

Natalie had put her fist into her mouth to try and stop herself from laughing at Laura's crazed fashion-centered enthusiasm. Kim rolled her eyes at her friend and pulled on the tight black skirt—it fit to Kim's mid-thigh, a little too short for her liking but Laura insisted that Jared would like it, since it gave him "easy access", something that made Natalie start rolling around in silent laughter— and the silky white shirt, which turned out to be floaty and soft in contrast to the tight skirt. The boots were killing Kim's feet, what with the pinch in the pointed toe and the high heel that Kim found nearly impossible to walk in.

Throwing the leather jacket on, Kim was shoved into the chair in front of the desk, looking on at Laura's impressive collection of makeup. Dutifully not moving as Laura bathed her eyelids in eyeshadow, painted her eyelashes black, and lined her lips with color. Powder foundation was dusted across her face, covering up and 'splotches' that Laura claimed had been there.

"There," Laura stepped back to admire her work with a pleased smile. "It'll have to do. It's almost eight."

"Jeez, Kim, you look like a million bucks," Natalie whistled in appreciation. "Where've you been hiding _those _boobs?" Kim blushed and crossed her arms, glaring at Natalie.

"So _weird, _right, Nosebleed? Kimmy Connweller's got a _body!" _Laura shrieked, slapping Kim on the arm.

Kim walked towards the mirror, glaring at her reflection critically. "You think he'll like it?"

"He'd be an idiot _not _to!" Natalie assured her. "You look _hot!"_

_ "_Really?" Kim smiled slightly, toying with the hem of her shirt nervously. Laura rolled her eyes, nodding her agreement and throwing a few chains of fake gold necklaces around Kim's neck.

"Okay, newbie, here's the drift of Sabrina's parties," Laura began like she was a schoolteacher explaining fractions to her students. "Beware the punch. It's always spiked. Do _not _drink more than a few shots and try and avoid getting into pictures. Stick with your date if you can, and try and avoid going anywhere alone. Beware all drinks that you don't prepare yourself. Respect Sabrina's house or she'll go apeshit. Humor Irina if she starts talking to you. 'kay?" Laura waltzed back over to the closet, pulling out a slinky black dress and a pair of red heels.

"Oh, and Kim?" Laura added as Kim began to leave the room.

"Yeah?" Kim asked, knowing that 'oh, and Kim?' was never a good opener to conversation when it came to the older women in this family.

"We _don't _know each other. We've never even _spoken. _Get the picture?" Kim blinked at Laura's sudden change in attitude. Not that it surprised her, really. Laura was too cool to be friends—or even on speaking terms with Kim, Natalie, or Rory.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay." Kim grumbled.

"Make sure you come home tonight!" Natalie called. "I want _all _the juicy deets!"

Kim turned out the door, walking downstairs. Alex was lounging on the couch, draping his limbs across the worn sofa cushions and glaring at the Sonics game (they were losing; big surprise _there)_. His dog Flower was lying on his lap, absently licking his hand.

He sat up when she came down, dislodging Flower, who shook out his fur and barked in distaste. Alex regarded her for a moment before shaking his head and chuckling softly. "Whoa, man…if Mom saw you…damn, you'd be dead. You're so lucky Rory had some quiz bowl thing in Seattle, man. 'else Mom'd be _flippin' _ her shit, and you'd be deader than that guy in _Alien." _Alex told Kim confidently. "I mean, maybe me and Laura could get away with this shit, but Mom'd be all _over _your ass! Aren't you going with that Jared Cameron? He's in a cult or something, isn't he? That's what Vera said. You know, she has a snaggletooth. It's some creepy shit, man. I can't believe I actually thought she was hot! Besides, Serena Carlton's _much _hotter and she invited me and Seth to the party tonight and all. Seth said that Leah said that all of Sam Uley's gang-cult-thing are asses. And Leah's _usually _right about stuff like that. Of course, Lee _might _be a _bit _biased against Sam 'n all, but that's not the _point! _She's gonna be there tonight, you know. Think I'd have a chance with her? Of course I would! She _likes _me! Maybe if she had a few drinks or something, maybe… But that'd be some weird shit, dating _Seth's _sister. But man, she's hot, y'know? Serena's real hot 'n all, but _whoa, _man, Leah's a real _woman. _Can't believe Sam let her go. She was pretty torn up about it, y'know. Real torn up. I bet Jared's the same way, you know? Seems like a real chill guy, and then he just up and cold-cocks you outta the blue and stuff, and then you've got a Grade A tearjerker going on. Then I'd hafta beat him up n' all, but whoa, man. I doubt _that'd _go well. It's like, _whoa, _man, have you _seen _him? Him and Sam and Paul? It's _gotta _be steroids, it's gotta be! I mean, don't they know what steroids _do _to a guy? I mean, _really. _If they're trying to get girls, steroids are _not _the way to go, if you know what I mean." Alex paused in his monologue briefly to consider Kim. "You'll have to ask him what he sees in you. Serena's been wondering, and if I could _tell _her, then she'd _totally _have to go out with me and stuff! I bet I could get to second with her! She's got a nice rack, man."

Alex was prone to incessant talking like this. One-sided conversations in which _every _thought that crossed Alex's mind was broadcasted for the world to hear. That's part of the reason Seth and Alex got on so well; Seth was a good listener and Alex was a good talker. Rory was a good talker, too, and consequently, she and her twin butted heads over who got to monologue.

Kim wondered briefly why _everyone _she spent time with _never _shut up. Liana, Natalie, Alex, Rory, Laura.

"You think Serena likes dogs? I bet she does! Flower and I could totally impress her, couldn't we, boy?" Flower barked happily. "Yeah. We could. Couldn't we? Nah, I bet Serena's more impressed with soccer than with dogs. She seems like that kinda girl." Alex turned to Kim, seeming to remember what he had originally been talking about. "But if Mom finds out you've been hanging out with Jared, she'll flip her shit like a _burger. _Or a pancake. Which one do you think is easier to flip? I've never thought about it before. You flip all our burgers and pancakes, what do you think? Maybe I could as Liz, she wouldn't mind. I mean, she's your boss 'n all, but she's chill. Brady's okay, and everything. He's technically Seth's cousin. His first cousin, but you knew that already. He's a chill kid, but, whoa, man, being related to someone does _not _mean that we're all chill to hang out. That'd be like me and _Rory _hanging out. Now _that's _a twisted chick. Hey, I heard that Lucy Maxwell's gonna be at the Carlton's tonight. She's real _pretty. _She's hot, too, but she's _real _pretty. Her cousin's a bitch, though. God, I _hate _Anna Surrey. She's a good at arguing, though. She's a real bitch, you know, just awful. Maybe I should make a move on Lucy at the party? But Serena invited me…and Leah'll be there. That's it! I'll hit on Serena, and if Leah's interested, I'll hit on _her, _and if Anna's not there and Serena's not interested I'll go after _Lucy. _And if I'm _really _unlucky, I'll go after what's-her-face. Snaggletooth…_Vera, _that's it!" He made a face. "But only as a _last _resort."

Kim's eyes hurt a bit from being rolled so much. If there was anything Kim knew about Alex, it was that her little brother's inner monologue was offensive, brash, cocky, rude, tactless, and brazen; it was also strangely entertaining.

The doorbell rang, and Kim's heart bungee-jumped around in her chest. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with it? Had her heart suddenly decided to take up the art of flying trapeze or something?

"You. Stay there." Kim glared at Alex, who was moving to go answer the door. He shrugged, muttering something about 'women these days' to Flower, who yipped in answer and raced to the door, dutifully bouncing against the doorknob like a guard dog and barking loudly.

Kim ran her hand through her regretfully wispy hair and shoved Flower out of the way. She wrenched open the door before she could chicken out of it and sprint upstairs.

Jared stood there, in all his muscular, towering glory. He was shifting from foot to foot; was he _nervous? _

Kim grinned at him, feeling herself heat up when his eyes trailed slowly and appreciatively up her body. He himself looked _very _fine, indeed, dressed in a white T-shirt that delectably clung to his musculature and a pair of low-slung dark wash jeans.

_Hot…Hot…HOT! _

"You look…" Jared trailed off, his eyes glued to her body. Kim's traitorous mind filled in the blank, her insecurities very nearly surfacing.

_Ugly, fat, stupid, overdressed, plain, cheap, slutty, prudish, trashy…_

_ "_Beautiful," Jared finished simply, his eyes meeting hers. Kim blinked, a blush creeping up her neck despite her surprise at his compliment.

She'd never been called beautiful before.

"Somebody kill me now," Alex mimed shoving a finger down his throat and retching, holding Flower by his collar to keep the dog from jumping on Jared.

"Bye, tiger, see you later." Kim called Alex his childish nickname, rolling her eyes. She grabbed Jared's arm, ignoring the shock it sent through her body and marched deliberately away from her stupid brother.

"Hey, I'm going to this party! Natalie's the loser that's staying home with _Flower!"_

_ "_Hey, I heard that, Alex Connweller! Watch yourself!" Natalie's voice carried down the stairs.

"Sorry, boy," Alex whispered to his dog. "It's every man for himself."

Flower just whined and wagged his tail.

"Quick, let's go," Kim said, nearly sprinting to Jared's battered gray pickup truck, dragging her date behind her. Jared gentlemanly opened her door for her before getting into the driver's side of the car.

"Sorry my family's so weird. I had to listen to Alex go on and on about five different girls who may or may not be at the party," Kim rolled her eyes, and Jared laughed, driving down one of La Push's four roads to the Carlton place.

"Yeah, littlae brothers are wack," Jared agreed. "I've got two, both in middle school," _I know, _Kim thought, _because I ktnow _way _too much about you._ "Ethan and Jason, and they never shut up about anything. They're pretty nonstop all the time, and ever since Mom died, Dad's had me be their babysitter." There wasn't a trace of bitterness or grief in his tone, but his hands were the telltale to his carefully hidden sadness as they gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white. His hands were quivering slightly, like he had a twitch.

He blinked, turning towards her and said, in an obvious attempt to dislodge the sudden tension, "So, what music do you listen to?"

Grateful for the change in subject, Kim quickly told him her passion for the Ramones, the Beatles (and their respective solo careers), Blondie, and Nirvana. Jared seemed impressed, and told her so; he'd expected her to be into pop music, but, as Kim explained, that was _Natalie _and _Laura. _She tolerated it, but in no way was it her music of choice.

Kim's mind danced around the fact that this was like a dream come true; having _Jared _ask her to a party. And here she was, overheating in his pickup truck (from Jared's excessive, fever-like body temperature, the close proximity, or just the fact that the more he 'accidentally' touched her, the more it felt like her insides were melting), laughing with Jared over stupid things like the time Jared changed all the contact names in Paul's phone and how pissed Paul was when he kept getting texts from Lord Voldemort and Arnold Swartzenegger, Natalie's insane fear of squirrels, when Ethan and Jason had tried to cook a mudpie in the oven and nearly burned down the house, Grandmama's fear of earthquakes, when Jared and Paul had been dared to sneak into the projection room in the Port Angeles theatre and had accidentally knocked down the projector to a movie that was playing, and what had been going through Alex's mind the day he named Flower.

If Kim hadn't been in love with him before, she sure as hell was _now._

The key was to not stare at him too long, not laugh too hard at his jokes, not touch him too much, not glance at him too much, not blush too much, not smile too much, not talk too much, and not laugh too much.

Too bad she was too busy being in love with him to notice.

He didn't notice, however, because he was too busy not staring at her too much, not laughing too hard, not touching her too much, not glancing at her too much, not blushing too much, not smiling too much, and not laughing too much.

Too bad he didn't know it was a lost cause, 'cause he was failing _miserably_.

**A/N: I had WAY too much fun writing Alex's monologue. He just kind of...well, if he's got no filter from his brain to his mouth. He's based on my little sister.**

**Review, and next chapter's Sabrina Carlton's part-ayy!**


	8. Hiatus Notice Author's Note

**Hi... this is Livelovelyra, and no, this isn't an update, unfortunately. **

**You see, I'm going to put _Too Good to Be True _on hiatus, because I need it to be more of a _foundation _for all the story-building I'll be doing in future, and frankly, I'm not exactly satisfied with it. I know I can and will plan and write better.**

**I'm planning on deleting this story within the week. This message will be on my profile page, and eventually, a better version will be submitted. I won't change my penname, so you can find the new and improved _Too Good to Be True_ that way, or you could put me on Author Alert. **

**Thanks so much for your support, alerts, and reviews. I hope I won't lose any readers this way, but... I have to make sure my writing is _right. _Keep writing, everybody! **

**~Live Love Lyra**


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